7 replies to this topic

[Jaxwen]

Choosing a faction for roleplay and emersion of lore is great but shouldn't there be a game play meaning to the choice? So far, I've failed to discover why it matters to choose one faction or another.

Each choice should have impacts to the decision such as:
A) Your faction has a specific MECH LAB adjustment allowing for a mech design that only your faction has access to.

This could be in the form of a specific weapon, piece of equipment, internal structure or armor allocation.

Or this could permit a chassis of mech only allowed to that faction.


Your faction has a game play PILOTING calculation into performance on (& off) the battlefield.

Some factions by default were known for better mech warriors (something that would directly impact actions on the battlefield, such as accuracy, how quick the mech accelled into motion, how well the mech evaded/frustrated enemy firing upon them, etc.).

Some factions are known for being better at technology R&D (something that would apply in mech lab and have an impact on that mech's capabilities when in battle.)


C) Your faction should provide a factor for earning C-bills as a plus or minus factor. If you are a merc you should earn more C-bills, if you are a House loyalist, you'd earn less C-bills but more experience from battle, etc.


The reason it matters is that using myself as an example, if I HAD to choose a House, I would choose House Marik as it has a personal quality that I can relate to my IRL experience in the USMC. From past enjoyment of Mechwarrior games, the Merc also has an appeal. For solo play due to time constraints, the Lone Wolf archtype also has an appeal, but to choose one for my MWO persona and really emerse myself into this F2P game, I'd want that choice to actually mean something on the field of battle that as a player I could incorporate. Let's remember that in the battletech universe, there are long standing rivalries and blood fueds that are racially motivated and/or based off historical happenings. Mercs may have an awesome advantage in C-bills accrued but be the decision could come home to roast from relationships with a specific House or be hardest hit on the field of battle when the Clan invasion unfolds.

Please Design the game for the players faction decisions to have a meaningful impact to play of the game.

Thank you,

A Knight

[FinnMcKool]

so a kind of rock , paper , scissors ? No one is better than the other just different advantages ?

[Ramien]

I believe the devs have already said that all equipment and 'Mechs will be available to all factions, but that prices may vary from faction to faction.

[PANZERBUNNY]

They are doing their best to avoid the whines of "Steiner is better because of X, Y and Z".

Giving C-Bill discounts to certain mechs for a faction is enough. No need to restrict it any further.

In the TT, ongoing warfare has dispersed many of the iconic mechs for each faction over the last many, many decades of constant fighting, so it's a fairly moot point unless it's state of the art technology.

Edited by PANZERBUNNY, 07 June 2012 - 08:22 PM.

[Freyar]

I don't mind the idea of trying to make your faction choice an important one, but making any mechanical change inherently unbalances the game in favor of one or the other.

[Jaxwen]

FinnMcKool, on 07 June 2012 - 07:37 PM, said:

so a kind of rock , paper , scissors ? No one is better than the other just different advantages ?

Yes. Rock, Paper, Scissors is already included with the Mechs in the form of Speed, Armor, Weapons. Maybe the idea does not have merit but the same could be done with the factions. Easily with C-bills, but also with Experience, yet that seems to fall short to me. The traditions, honor, etc of House Kurita should be a factor on the battle field because of their martial discipline. There is a "nitch" for each of the factions. Why not translate those nitches to game mechanics? What would really make the decision to pledge allegiance to one faction or another is if there is a pro/con to each faction.

For example's sake (and others will likely have better suggestions for the pro/con details):
Draconis Combine pro= 10% bonus to critical hit result / con= 10% decrease to C-bill earning
Federated Suns pro= 10% bonus to weapons accuracy / con= 10% decrease to C-bill earning
Capellan Confederation pro= 10% decrease in cost of Mech Equipment / con= 10% increase to repair costs
Free Worlds League pro=10% decrease in cost of Mechs & Weapons / con= 5% decrease in Experience earning & 5%decrease to view range
Lyran Commonwealth pro= 10% bonus to C-bill earning / con= 10% decrease to Experience earning
Free Rasalhague Republic pro= 10% bonus to view range / con= 10% decrease to C-bill earning
Merc Corps pro= 5% bonus to Experience earning, 5% bonus to C-bill earning & 5% bonus to view range / con= 10% increase to repair costs
Lone Wolf pro= 5% bonus to view range & 5% bonus to weapons accuracy / con= 10% increase in cost of Mechs
No Faction equates to no pro/con modifier

[Rodney28021]

Would make things interesting. Would make many players whine. What would Lone Wolf have, since they have no support from house or merc corp.

[Jaxwen]

Rodney28021, on 08 June 2012 - 11:30 AM, said:

Would make things interesting. Would make many players whine. What would Lone Wolf have, since they have no support from house or merc corp.

I imagine Lone Wolf archtypes would have to work harder to be better on the battlefield to make up for the lack of insider support, which could equate to direct combat modifiers like view range and/or weapons accuracy?